Florian Wirtz and the Most Misleading Statistic of the Premier League Season
LONDON - Paco Jémez, the manager Andoni Iraola replaced at Rayo Vallecano, had a great line last year. "Statistics are like thongs," the Spanish tactician mused, "they show a lot, but cover the most important thing.
Liverpool's 2-1 win over Brentford on Saturday threw up one of the season's most deceptive statistics thus far this season: Florian Wirtz created an unrivaled and remarkable nine chances for his teammates. It's been more than half a decade since anyone racked up so many scoring opportunities in a single Premier League match, while no Liverpool player has ever surpassed that statistic since Opta 's advanced data collection began in 2003-04, per Michael Reid.
For those who didn't watch the game-and that is everyone in the United Kingdom, to begin with, given it was televised during the Saturday, 3 p. blackout-it would be easy to conclude that this was therefore a sublime performance by Wirtz.
After 15 months of nearly's and not-quite's, Liverpool's $154 million (£116 million) had finally gone nuclear, exploding with a performance of such attacking creativity that the record books have to be rewritten. Wirtz was decent but by no means devastating, alright and quite a long way from awesome.
Like Liverpool as a collective, it took Yehor Yarmoliuk's bone-headed red card on the cusp of halftime for the playmaker to really get into the contest, and even then, the source of acclaim shifted his way, that eye-opening statistic, doesn't stand up to any scrutiny. Breaking Down Florian Wirtz's Nine Chances Created 8th minute: Dominik Szoboszlai blazes over Dominik Szoboszlai started an early trend.
This set the tone for the vast majority of the chances Wirtz created: rolling a sideways or backward pass for a teammate to blaze over. 15th minute: Alexis Mac Allister's first pot shot Alexis Mac Allister also wanted a crack.
7 shouldn't be blamed for the poor choices of his colleagues, but he also shouldn't be praised for teeing up hopeful pot shots. 37th minute: Square ball for Bradley Barcola Bradley Barcola spurned one of many chances.
During an even opening 45 minutes, in which Brentford took a 1-0 lead, Wirtz was left to gently prod at the tight stitching of the hosts' rearguard. The mobile midfielder is at his best when given license to roam, tiptoeing laterally in search of the weak spot in the opposition's defense.
To begin with on Saturday, Wirtz was lured toward the right halfspace, where he would invariably roll a pass across the face of the box rather than trying to find a way through Brentford's shell. 45+8th minute: Ridiculous effort Florian Wirtz can't be blamed for his teammates' poor choices."